Supporting your speakers

Each community should decide ahead of time how they will show their support for what each of their own speakers will be saying on their behalf during the formal exchange of speeches on the marae.

One of the favorite ways of doing so is for everyone in the community to join the person who has just finished speaking in singing a song together, or by reciting an appropriate poem in unison.

In addition to being supportive, fun, and entertaining, these brief moments are also a communal sign of respect for those on the other side of the marae who are listening to what is being said.
Songs that are favorites at marae encounters in North America are the 1848 Shaker song "Simple gifts" by Elder Joseph Brackett, and the popular 1931 song "Morning has broken" (lyrics by Eleanor Farjeon and set to a traditional Gaelic melody) made famous by Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens.